Guidelines for BAP Assignment (3000 words

)
Select a focus company and 2 competitors.
 INTRODUCTION: (~400 words)
Introduce your company and explain the Current Strategy / position and current situation of
your company
Also explain Business Units / Segments/ Divisions (Explain the revenues from different
BU/Segments / Divisions, etc)
 BENCHMARKING (~300 words)
Compare with competitors (BU / Segment wise / Division wise comparison for market share,
revenue) for 5 yrs (3 – 5yrs)
 KPI’S (~600 words)
Benchmark with KPI’s (examples --- Growth – Revenue growth, Profits – Net profits or gross
profits, Efficiency – Operating margins, Solvency – Debt Equity ratio …. Or use any KPI you
feel like as per the list given in the slides – refer KPI’s slides circulated by me)
Compare the competitors for the set KPI’s
 BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT (ON YOUR COMPANY) (~1000 words)
Use any of the tools as explained in the class (Pestle, 5 Forces, Ansoff, BCG, etc..)
Use 2-3 tools – Both Internal and external should be explained.
More tools also welcome.
Do not explain the tools, but apply the tools on your target company
(Example – If you select Pestle, DO NOT Explain Pestle, but apply it on your company)
DO NOT USE SWOT
 LIMITATIONS OF TOOLS (~100 words)
 SCENARIO ANALYSIS (ON YOUR COMPANY) (~400 words)
Develop on a spreadsheet (model on a spreadsheet by making your assumptions on sales,
cost, etc,)
Test the Scenario
Comment on the acceptability, feasibility and suitability of your strategy.
The spreadsheet should be a part of submission of your assignment – both hard and soft
copy
 CONCLUSION AND RESULTS (~200 words)

BAP - ASSIGNMENT
The assessment for this module consists of one element. Final submission dates for
elements of assessment vary.
Element

Type of assessment

010

Individual written
assignment

Word or
time
limit
3,000

Submission
method

Final Submission Date

Turnitin®UK
GradeMark

14th AUG, 2015.

5.1. Element 010 – Assignment – submit work via Turnitin/Grademark®
You are required to prepare a 3,000 words report on an enterprise of your own choosing.
This will be a critical appraisal of the competitive position of the enterprise and you will
benchmark with two similar organisations.
This module simulates the problems (issues) that real life senior managers deal with and
requires you to test some of your proposed solutions. The focus is on some aspect of
competitive advantage and how this is reported in published information and also in
financial reports and statistics.
The module is integrative, it requires you to look at competitive strategy from different
angles (e.g. organisational, operational, market, financial etc). You must pull together these
strands in order to form a coherent picture of the issues (i.e. the problems and
opportunities) inside and around your chosen organisation.
Part of your analysis will be qualitative - “soft” - and part of your analysis will be quantitative “hard”. You must pull together “soft” analysis and “hard” (financial and market data) in order
to perform a complete analysis.
It is valuable to be aware of the key performance indicators that are employed in each
market sector. The traditional financial ratios are useful here, but do not give the full picture.
Some sectors have very specialised KPIs. How does your chosen organisation compare with
your chosen benchmark organisations in these key areas?
The module also requires an awareness of values and judgements in financial and other
reporting. You must interpret evidence from a number of different sources in order to give
your judgement on numerical data represented in the accounts.
The module requires you to test the outcomes of your recommendations using
spreadsheet scenario modelling. You should comment on the suitability, acceptability and
feasibility of your recommendations and integrate the figures derived from your scenario
modelling in this section.

Focus company:

Benchmark 1

Benchmark 2

LO
s
a 1-4

Research on industry sector and selected organisation,
referencing

Weigh
t
10%

Wide research and reading - good bibliography and referencing - every
piece of information and all non-original work must be referenced to
original author. Information is not free, it is the intellectual property of
the original author who must be acknowledged
Do not describe analytical models. Sources: FT, Economist, HBR,
quality newspapers & journals, Mintel & Keynote market sector
reports, Dunn & Bradstreet , specialist journals. Be careful with
online sources - DO NOT download web-based material without
referencing.

Examine trends over 3 - 5 years:- e.g. sales, market share,
profitability, cash, debt, investment, p/e - and compare with key
competitors. Use specific Performance Indicators relevant to your
chosen sector. Use only relevant financial ratios (no need to examine
all of them). WHAT ARE THE INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC KPIs? Each
sector has its own special KPIs. Interpret and discuss your findings IDENTIFY KEY ISSUES.

c

14

d 4

Analysis,

interpretation and discussion of strategic issues

30%

Establish the context and background - apply models to the case.
Examine the market and competitors, operations and organisation.
Interpret and discuss your findings - IDENTIFY KEY ISSUES
APPLY theory & models to help you ANALYSE - do not DESCRIBE the
theory
It is advisable to select one or maximum two theoretical models
e.g. PESTEL plus modified Porter 5 Forces works well.
e.g. the Balanced Scorecard / Strategy Map, with industry-specific
KPIs, works well
DO NOT use SWOT

An appraisal of the limitations of financial models and
conventional analysis

10%

Remember to include this part. MBA people should be capable of
seeing the weaknesses as well as the strengths of conventional
“textbook” wisdom and concepts. For example, the traditional “5-forces”
model is out-of-date and we will critique and update it.

e 14

f

14

g 14

Conclusions
Conclusions must link strongly with the earlier parts of the report and
pull together your findings - do not introduce new evidence and thought
here - no surprises. Conclusions will restate the key issues that you
have identified and your major findings.
Recommendations must address these key issues and major findings.
You are writing to the CEO and advising on your favoured options for
the future in terms of costs, benefits (increased sales, profits etc),
timescale and resource implications for the organisation. You must
model your recommendations in the financial spreadsheet model in part
(b); make some assumptions on costs, sales etc and input these to the
model; discuss and interpret the financial and other outcomes of your
recommendations in terms of acceptability, feasibility and suitability.
Modelling

Model your recommendations from part (e) quantitatively using a
spreadsheet. Your recommendations inform the inputs then you will
comment on the outcomes.